Just one dinner with the Tiggulaar family was enough for Elphaba to feel more at home with them than she ever had back in Munchkinland, and more at ease than she'd been in a very long time. Granted, part of the reason for that was Fiyero's commitment to the task of forcing her to take a break – for example by banning her from entering the castle library; a ban which she immediately decided to violate. On the third morning of her stay with the Tiggulaars she was roaming through the long aisles of shelves as a soft sound of footsteps made her freeze with her hand halfway up in the air.

"Ah, Miss Elphaba! Good morning!"

A tall woman in a plain blue gown emerged from around the corner, and Elphaba was relieved to recognize Fiyero's mother. She had a delicate, tan face framed by strands of dark hair, and her thin lips formed a gentle smile. The way she carried herself and held her chin up gave her an unmistakably queenly air.

"Good morning, Ma'am," Elphaba said, letting out a breath of relief. "I'm sorry, I thought it was Fiyero about to catch me, um… green-handed, breaking his library ban."

The queen chuckled.

"My lips are sealed," she promised. "Were you looking for anything in particular?"

"Oh, well… when I arrived, your children asked me something I didn't really understand, and I was wondering if I could find some explanation here… They asked me if I was a fae."

The queen sighed and covered her eyes with her palm.

"Oh, sweet Oz, I'm so sorry about them…" she said, shaking her head, then motioning at Elphaba to follow her along one of the tall bookshelves. "You see, the fae are creatures from the Vinkun folklore; a sort of nature-bound spirits. There are many different legends about them; but I suspect one in particular is to blame here."

Having found the book she was looking for, she took it off the shelf and handed it to Elphaba, who admired the deep burgundy cover and golden letters that spelled out the title Vínkéen Q'Fabem Tékka.

"It's a storybook I used to read to my children. And if you just turn a few pages and… Here!" She pointed to an illustration portraying a feminine-looking creature with dark, earthy hair and a pair of branchlike antlers; whose skin, from the nose to the toes, was as green as the carpet of moss under her feet.

"I'm terribly sorry, Miss Elphaba," the queen said apologetically, but Elphaba shook her head.

"Oh, no, that is no problem at all," she chuckled. "I'm just afraid your children will be disappointed to find out I'm not some miraculous force of nature…"

"Interesting," the queen said, tilting her head, "your influence on my son would suggest otherwise. And so would your name, for that matter."

"My… my name?"

"Is it not of Vinkun origin? I've never heard it before, but, in Old Vinkun, 'El-Faba' would roughly mean 'miracle worker'. And in Vinkun culture, we attach quite an importance to the meanings of names."

"I see," Elphaba said, curious to find out more. "Does Fiyero's name have a specific meaning?"

The queen smiled fondly.

"Indeed. The fiy part, which best translates to the Ozian as the word 'believe', has been present in my family's names for generations. The full name, 'Fiyero', would roughly mean 'a steadfast believer'. Oh, Yero always complained about it so much…" She sighed. "He used to be such a sweet boy when he was younger. Always pretending not to care, and yet always feeling so deeply…"

Elphaba smiled.

"I think he still has that in him."

"Oh, do you now?" an innocent voice asked from behind them, and the queen sent Elphaba a knowing look before turning around to face her son.

"Yero," she said, just as innocently. "We were just talking about you."

"I noticed," Fiyero said, dramatically clutching his chest. "And my pride is mortally wounded!"

Elphaba snorted.

"We all know it takes more than one wound to do any damage to your pride," she teased, and Fiyero made a face at her before turning to his mother.

"Well, Mother, much as I hate to deprive you of this charming young lady's company, but Saf and Zef won't stop badgering me, asking to take them and 'Miss Fae' to the lake, and frankly, I'm not sure how much longer I can take it."

He looked expectantly at Elphaba, who took his outstretched hand and followed him. She turned around briefly and her heart fluttered at the sight of the queen's affectionate smile; because for the briefest of moments, Elphaba Thropp felt what it was like to be loved by a mother.